I last year travelled to 11 countries and criss crossed the US many times over on assignments for different advertising agencies.

Some of this travel was done for Westin Hotels and Resorts.

The campaign I was hired to photograph was to represent and speak to the pillars of Westin as a brand. The foundation of what drives them as a premium hotel are 6 pillars; “live well’, “sleep well”, “eat well”, “play well”, “feel well” and “work well”.

I love when a client comes to me and say; these are the things we believe in and what we stand for. And I love getting an assignment that has an intention and a storyline!

With a tagline like “ sleep well” I get to dive in and ask myself ; What does “sleep well” mean to me? What does “sleep well” look like? What does it feel like? What are the light, tone, texture, color and emotions of sleeping well? How is it reflected in who you are as you wake up?

And what is it in context of travel?

With 260 days of travel in 2013, where and how I sleep at night truly matters and this assignment became very personal to me in how I related to the Westin Pillars.

It helps me as a photographer to make each image I take personal. To find a way to relate to the brand and the image to be created…

It then is not an image executed for a client but an image I relate to and care about. An image I can infuse myself into both on a visual and emotional level.

As an image maker this grounds me. It grounds me to seek what the ideas and story mean to me personally so that me and who I am get reflected in the images created.

In the case of Westin it was easy. They focus on the things that are hard when you travel a lot for work. To eat right, to exercise and to wake up rested. The things that can truly make a difference while on the road.

In this campaign I was graced with great art direction and ideas and the heart of the campaign also became very personal.